Where to play blackjack in NYC
Blackjack in NYC

New York City’s blackjack players finally have a quick and comfortable way to legally play blackjack, as a new floating casino began operating in Long Island aboard a luxury, gambler-friendly cruise ship.

New Yorkers who have a sudden itch for a quick game of roulette, blackjack or poker now have the opportunity to scratch it practically at the city’s doorstep. There is no longer a need for a three hour car ride to the cesspool which used to be the great Atlantic City, nor a need to drive even further, through fragrant New Jersey, to visit Pennsylvania’s new blackjack tables. There is still an option to play online blackjack, if you can find a reliable way to make deposits/withdrawals from online casinos without Uncle Sam finding out. NYC blackjack players now have the option of traveling in style to Freeport, L.I. to board a 540-passenger casino mini-cruise ship, for a six-hour gambling adventure provided by the Opus Casino Cruise Line.

Starting this March, Peter Pan Bus Lines, will have continuous luxury bus service from the 42nd street Port Authority Bus Terminal (as well as from northern New Jersey) directly to Freeport. The roundtrip, $35 dollar ticket includes bus fare, ship boarding fees, a free buffet and $40 worth of slot tokens. Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) charges $15 roundtrip from 34th street in Manhattan to Freeport, so if you enjoy discussing your card counting system with gang members, while whiffing the aroma of vintage urine, the LIRR is highly recommended.

Currently over thirty percent of Opus Casino customers come from the five boroughs of New York. Mr. Willinsky, a spokesman for Opus, commented “We want to get that number up to as high as sixty percent within the next year.” International waters are just three miles offshore, at this section of Long Island, where all forms of gambling are legal. Two cruises per day are offered, Tuesday through Sunday, and the blackjack tables are always lively.

Aboard the cruise ship, the relaxed atmosphere helps players unwind after the adrenaline fueled rush of the blackjack card games. The cruise also offers the standard array of casino games including mini-baccarat, many variations of poker, slots, roulette and much more. The entrance fee keeps the riff-raff out, so you won’t see menacing hoodlums grinning at your stack of chips from the dark corners of the game floor (as is often the case in Atlantic City.)

During the fourth hour of the cruise, the disco opens up where classy ladies dance to the pumping grove of the latest beats through a state of the art sound system. A gourmet dining room, operated by an award-winning five-star head chef, is open throughout the six hour voyage. With the limited choices available to New York City gamblers, this is definitely an option that NYC blackjack players should take advantage of.